Budget 2015: Positive Steps to Eradicate Black Money and Illegal Transactions

With regard to curbing domestic black money, new bill has been introduced.

Bringing black money stashed in foreign countries has been one of the high priorities for the present central government since the time it came into power. It went one step further in this regard in the budget tabled today, to keep up its promise and the confidence in the public. The central finance minister proposed certain steps to bring black money stashed abroad as well as curb black money transactions.

Some of the important steps are as follows:

• Steps will be taken to dis-incentivise cash payments. Plans will be made to make more card based transactions, eventually making India a cash transaction less society.
• A Benami property transaction bill will be proposed to tackle black money transaction in the real estate.
• Quoting the Permanent Account Number (PAN) will be made mandatory for all purchases made above Rs 1,00,000.
• Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) will be amended to incorporate black money provisions. It will allow for seizures of foreign properties and assets.
• New structure including e-filing and tracking down of transactions.
• Rationalising and removing exemptions to eliminate tax disputes.
• There would be other legal provisions made to outlaw black money transactions such as a 10-year imprisonment for concealment of income assets.

FLASHBACK

The election manifesto of the government spoke about this step and the country’s hopes have been pinned on the government ever since. The government was also able to move an inch forward with this initiative by providing a list of people who had stashed black money in foreign banks, and partly bringing back a considerable amount of money back to the country.

CommonFloor Verdict

While the announcements are made, there is more clarity yet to be obtained about the new laws and amendment of current laws to incorporate bringing back black money and eradicate illegal financial transactions. Nonetheless, the 2015-16 budget sounds positive in this regard.